Hiring a CTO is a big decision. Especially if it's your first one. You're bringing someone into the business who could shape your technology, build your teams and play a big part in where the business goes next.
No pressure then!
I've recently been retained to find a CTO for a martech business, having just finished another retained CTO search for a fintech company. Two businesses. Two very different searches. And a good reminder that the same job title can mean very different things.
Here's what I've found.
What sort of CTO are you actually looking for?
Not every business needs the same kind of CTO. Some need someone to set the technology direction. Others need a product specialist or a hands-on leader who can build and grow an engineering team. And some need a bit of everything!
The tricky part is working out which experience really matters, what you can be flexible on and what sort of person will fit the business. Get that right and you've got a much better chance of finding the right person.
Not all CTO experience is the same
This really stood out across my two recent searches.
With the fintech role, we were looking at candidates from very different-sized businesses. Some had worked in huge organisations, others in start-ups. Both brought great experience, but leading a large technology department with big budgets and established teams is very different from working in a smaller business where you might need to get stuck in yourself. Neither is better. It just depends on what the business needs.
The martech search I'm working on now is different again. Here, specialist product knowledge matters much more than the size of the businesses someone has worked in.
The challenge isn't just finding someone who's been a CTO before. It's finding someone who's been the right kind of CTO for your business.
A great CV doesn't always mean a great fit
I've spoken to plenty of technology leaders with seriously impressive CVs. But that doesn't automatically make them right for the job. Two candidates might have similar technical experience but completely different ways of leading people, making decisions and working with the wider business.
When I'm speaking to CTO candidates, I want to know what they've delivered, of course. But I also want to understand how they've led teams, dealt with challenges and worked with people outside technology. And whether that experience is actually relevant to the business I'm recruiting for.
Sometimes the best candidate isn't the most obvious one on paper.
Get the brief right before you start looking
This is one of the things I enjoy about retained recruitment. You get the time to really understand a business, what it's trying to achieve and what sort of person it needs. Not just tick boxes on a job spec. And sometimes that means asking a few awkward questions.
Do you really need someone from the same industry? Does a particular technology background matter? Is experience in a big business actually relevant?
There's no point making a search harder than it needs to be by insisting on things that aren't essential. Some of the most useful conversations happen before you've even spoken to a candidate.
Don't forget, they're choosing you too
Good CTOs tend to have options. They're often already doing interesting work, so you need to give them a good reason to consider something new.
They'll want to know where the business is heading, how much influence they'll have, what investment is available and what working with the CEO will actually be like. It's not just about the salary or the job title.
Part of my job is understanding what matters to candidates and making sure they get a proper picture of the opportunity. Because finding a brilliant CTO is one thing. Getting them to join you is another!
Finding the right CTO
There's no one-size-fits-all CTO. What matters is finding someone with the right experience, approach and personality for your business.
At Revoco, we help businesses find senior technology leaders through retained executive search, taking the time to understand what they need and finding people who genuinely fit. If you're looking to hire a CTO, or you're thinking about what your next technology leader should look like, give me a shout. Always happy to have a chat.
